View source for Object–subject–verb word order

{{Short description|Language classification}}
{{Original research |reason=Article is shot through and through with unsourced assertions, and unattested, invented examples. |discuss=Original research |date=July 2019}}
{{Linguistic_typology_topics}}

In [[linguistic typology]], the '''object–subject–verb''' ('''OSV''') or '''object–agent–verb''' ('''OAV''') word order is a structure where the object of a sentence precedes both the subject and the verb. Although this word order is rarely found as the default in most languages, it does occur as the unmarked or neutral order in a few Amazonian languages, including [[Xavante language|Xavante]] and [[Apurinã language|Apurinã]]. In many other languages, OSV can be used in marked sentences to convey emphasis or focus, often as a stylistic device rather than a normative structure. OSV constructions appear in languages as diverse as [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]], and [[British Sign Language]], typically to emphasize or topicalize the object. Examples of OSV structures can also be found in certain contexts within [[English language|English]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], and other languages through the use of syntactic inversion for emphasis or rhetorical effect. The OSV order is also culturally recognizable through its use by the character [[Yoda]] in ''[[Star Wars]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Uncommon Word Order of Yoda in Star Wars Movie Series: A Syntactic Analysis|date=September 2019|journal=NOBEL Journal of Literature and Language Teaching |volume=10|issue=2|pages=103-116|doi=10.15642/NOBEL.2019.10.2.103-116|doi-access=free}}</ref>

An example of this word order in English would be "''Apples Sam ate''"  (meaning, ''Sam ate apples''). 

==Unmarked word order==
===Natural languages===
OSV is rarely used in unmarked sentences, which use a normal word order without emphasis. Most languages that use OSV as their default word order come from the [[Amazon basin]], such as [[Xavante language|Xavante]], [[Jamamadi language|Jamamadi]], [[Apurinã language|Apurinã]], [[Warao language|Warao]], [[Kayabí language|Kayabí]] and [[Nadëb language|Nadëb]].<ref name= CL>{{cite book | last1 = O'Grady | first1 = William | author-link1 = | last2 = Dobrovolsky | first2 = Michael | author-link2 = | last3 = Aronoff | first3 = Mark | author-link3 = | date = 1997 | title = Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction | url = | location = New York | publisher = St. Martin's Press | page = | isbn = 0-582-24691-1 }}</ref> [[Mizo grammar|Mizo language]] also uses OSV in unmarked sentences. Here is an example from Apurinã:<ref name=CL/>

{{interlinear|indent=3
|anana nota apa
|pineapple I fetch
|I fetch a pineapple}}

[[British Sign Language]] (BSL) normally uses [[topic-prominent language|topic–comment]] structure, but its default word order when topic–comment structure is not used is OSV.

==Marked word order==
{{Unreferenced section|date=May 2012}}
Various languages allow OSV word order but only in marked sentences, which emphasise part or all of the sentence.

===Chinese===
Passive constructions in [[Chinese language|Chinese]] follow an OSV (OAV) pattern through the use of the particle 被:

{{fs interlinear|lang=zh|indent=3
|这个 苹果 被 我 吃 掉 了
|Zhège píngguǒ bèi wǒ chī diào le
|this apple by me eat {} PFV
|This apple was eaten by me.}}
{{Rewrite|date=September 2022}}

===English===

In English, object-subject-verb order is atypical but can be used for [[contrastive focus]], as in: '''''That car''' we bought at least five years ago. '''The other one''' we only bought last year.''<ref>{{cite web |title=Word order and focus |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/word-order-and-focus_2 |access-date=11 May 2023}}</ref>

===Finnish===
[[Finnish language|Finnish]] has a remarkably lax word order<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.kielikello.fi/-/sanajarjestys-jasentaa-tekstia | title=Sanajärjestys jäsentää tekstiä - Kielikello }}</ref> and so emphasis on the object is often marked simply by putting it first in the sentence.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://hyvaa-paivaa.readthedocs.io/en/latest/wordorder/#sentence-structure | title=Word order and basic noun cases — Hyvää Päivää Suomi documentation}}</ref> The word by word translation in example (1) would be "you I love!" and expresses a contrast to maybe loving someone else.
{{interlinear|lang=fi|number=(1)
|Sinua minä rakastan!
|2SG.PTV 1SG.NOM 1SG.love.PRS.IND
|"I love you!"
}}

This word order is totally natural and quite often used for emphasis. Example (2) expresses the contrast of refusing to eat something else (like something more healthy).

{{interlinear|lang=fi|number=(2)
|Suklaata se kyllä suostuu syömään
|chocolate.PTV 3.SG INT 3SG.consent.PRS.IND eat.ILL
|"He instead consents to eating chocolate."
}}

===Hebrew===
In [[Modern Hebrew]], OSV is often used instead of the normal SVO to emphasise the object. אני אוהב אותה would mean "I love her", but "אותה אני אוהב" would mean "It is ''she'' whom I love".<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Friedmann|first1=Naama|last2=Shapiro|first2=Lewis|date=April 2003|title=Agrammatic comprehension of simple active sentence with moved constituents: Hebrew OSV and OVS structures|journal=Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research|volume=46|issue=2|pages=288–97|doi=10.1044/1092-4388(2003/023)|pmid=14700372|pmc=3392331}}</ref> Possibly an influence of Germanic (via Yiddish), as [[Jewish English languages|Jewish English]] uses a similar construction ("You, I like, kid") much more than many other varieties of English and often with the "it is" left implicit.

===Hungarian===
In [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], OSV emphasises the subject:

A szócikket én szerkesztettem = The article/I/edited (''It was I, not somebody else, who edited the article'').

===Korean and Japanese ===
[[Korean language|Korean]] and [[Japanese language|Japanese]] have SOV by default, but since they are [[Topic-prominent_language|topic-prominent languages]], they often seem to be OSV when the object is topicalized. Here is an example in Korean:
{{fs interlinear|indent=2
|top=그 사과는 제가 먹었어요.
| 그 사과–는 제–가 먹–었–어–요
| geu sagwa-neun je-ga meog-eoss-eo-yo
| that apple-{{gcl|TOP|topic}} I.{{gcl|POL|polite}}-{{gcl|NOM|nominative}} eat-{{gcl|PST|past}}-{{gcl|DEC|declarative mood}}-{{gcl|POL|polite}}
| {} Object Subject Verb|style4= font-variant: small-caps;
| As for the apple, I ate it. (or) The apple, I ate.}}

An almost identical syntax is possible in Japanese:
{{fs interlinear|indent=2
|top=そのりんごは私が食べました。
| その りんご゠は 私゠が 食べ゠まし゠た
| sono ringo-wa watashi-ga tabe-mashi-ta
| that apple-{{gcl|TOP|topic}} I.{{gcl|POL|polite}}-{{gcl|NOM|nominative}} eat-{{gcl|POL|polite|honorific speech in Japanese#Polite language}}-{{gcl|PST|past}}/{{gcl|PERF|perfect}}
| {} Object Subject Verb|style4= font-variant: small-caps;
| As for the apple, I ate it. (or) The apple, I ate.}}

===Malayalam===
OSV is one of the permissible word orders in [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]], the other being SOV. Here is an example of this occurring in Malayalam:

{{fs interlinear|lang=ml|indent=2
|ഈ കുമളിപ്പഴം ഞാൻ തിന്നു.
|ī kumaḷipaẓam ṅāṉ ṭinnu
|this apple me ate
|I ate this apple.}}

=== Portuguese ===
OSV is possible in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] to emphasize the object.

{{interlinear|indent=2
|top= De maçã eu não gosto
|De maçã eu não gosto
|of apple I NEG like-1SG
|{} Object Subject {} Verb|style3= font-variant: small-caps;
|I do not like apple}}

===Turkish ===
OSV is used in [[Turkish language|Turkish]] to emphasize the subject:

{{interlinear|indent=2
|top=Yemeği ben pişirdim.
|yemeğ-i ben pişir-di-m
|meal-ACC I cook-PST-1SG
|It was I, not somebody else, who cooked the meal.}}

== See also ==
*[[Yoda]], a popular ''[[Star Wars]]'' character who speaks in the object–subject–verb word order
*[[Yoda conditions]] - a style of writing conditionals in computer programming languages

{{Language_word_order_frequency}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Object-subject-verb}}
[[Category:Object–subject–verb languages| ]]
[[Category:Word order]]